Meat tendering machine



Oct. 24, 1950 H. s'rUKART MEAT TENDERING MACHINE Filed Dec. 3, 1945 1NVENTOR.

4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Ot. 24, 1950 H. STUKART MEAT TENDERING MACHINE Filed Deo. 5, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 IIIA Y INVENTOR.

Oct. 24, 1950 H. sTUKART 2,527,038

' MEAT TENDERING MACHINE Filed Dec. 3, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 IN V EN TOR.

@4MM @uw OGL 24, 1950 H. sTUKART 2,527,038

MEAT TENDERING MACHINE Filed Dec. 5, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 IN V EN TOR.

Patented Oct. 24, 1950 Mn-ArTENnnnrNe MaoHrNE Hendrik StuixarL-La-Yorte, Ind., assigner to U. S'. S-Iicing Machine Company inc., a corporation of Indiana Application December 3, 1945, Serial No. 632,324

3 Claims. l

This invention relates, in general', to meat tendering machines` of the'general type disclosed in my'f'Paten't 2,339,890,v issued January 25,- 19e/l, but relates moreispeccally to an improved feed'- ing vmechanism for the material tobeoperated on, and which is particularly adapted, though not necessarily limited in use, in connection with such a'machine.

OneY of the objects of the presentinvention is to providean' improved feeding mechanism'which is adapted to feed the material, suchas meat orthe like, to thetenderizing elements.

Anotherobject of the`invention is to provide an improved conveyor mechanism, and improved operating means therefor, whereby intermittent steps of advancing movement'may be imparte-: thereto.

A further object is to'provide improved means for embodying a back stop mechanism for the conveyor', to prevent retrograde movement.

A still further object is to provide improved mechanism of this character, which will be simple, durable and cheap in construction, and eiective and eflicient in operation.

To the attainment of these ends', and the acthis character, constructed in accordance withv the principles of this invention, parts thereof being broken away for the sake of clearness Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional vievv taken on line 2 2, Figure l.

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 3 3, Figure 2, with parts omitted.

Figure 4 is a detail'sectional-view'taken on line 4 4, Figure 1, on an enlarged scale.

Figure 5 is a detail sectionalvievv taken online 5 5, Figure 4.

Figure 6 is 'an-*enlarged sectional view taken on line 5 6, Figure l.

The particular exemplication of the tendering machine here illustrated, embodies a crosshead I0, carried by an arm Il, of aneccentric strap I2, which latterY co-operatesV with an eccentric membenJS, connected with-a pulley lf3, attached tolavshaft I5,v so that when-the pulley and'eccentric are rotated, the crosshead l0 will be reciprocated in a generally vertical direction, and will be given an orbital movement.

The pulley Ici is rotated by means of anfende' less belt i8, which passes thereover and alsoover y pulley il, connected to a shaft 13,01". a motorl` All of the above-referrecl-to' parts` are; mounted within a frame or casing 20, which' conV`VY stitutes the body portion of the machine. v i The ends of the crosshead are provided' With.

tudinally spaced apart pairs of tines 2,

The construction of the kabove referred-toI a'rts'l forms no part of the present invention, eXcept`i`n, y

so far as these parts may enter into, the Y general combination.

The construction, operation andlocation of thi-i parts so far. described, is forr the purpose of op'- erating the tools or tines to tender a piece of meat, or other substance, which is placed on 'aV supporting base 2, and the operationof the. ma-

chine is such that the tines 26 move in an orbit,v passing through slots 23,. provided in the support;` 2l, to pierce the piece of meat, or other substance.A 1 This operation of thetines not only pierces and'. tenderizes the meat, but also causes the meat tot: be advanced or fed to the left in Figure 2 ofthe"y drawings.

A cap plate 29, having spaced grooves 30 for the reception of the ends of the tines, is remov-` y ably supported by or connected to the frame or housing of the machine, in any vsuitable manner,

such as by means of pivotallymounted bolts 3|",

that pass through openings 32 in the cap member 1 29, and nuts 33 threaded thereon.

supportr 2l, to be operated upon by the tinesZ'Sf; there is provided a conveyor mechanism',embody' ing laterally spaced endless elements 34,'preier' ably formed of coiled material, such as, coiled springs, any number of VWhichmay beprovide'd.,A These elements'are preferably arrangedinan" inclined position, and pass over a roller 35, dis'- posed adjacent the support 2l, and alsopassfover another roller 36, the roller f'being preferably mounted at 'a higher elevation than the-"rollerjA te, so that the endless'el'ementswill travel in a' downwardly inclined plane. Each of the rollers .35 and 35 may, if desired, be provided with grooves The said construction, however,. is substantially the same as that disclosedfin'`I United States Patent 2,408,747 issued October 8,'

31, in which the endless elements run. The endless elements are preferably disposed within a trough-like construction 38, and one of the runs of the elements passes over and rests upon a support 39, to prevent sagging of the elements under the Weight of their load.

Arranged at one end of the roller 35 is a clutch device, of any desired or suitable construction, but which preferably embodies a clutch member 40, a portion 4l of which telescopes into the end of the roller 35, and such telescoping portion is provided with peripheral recesses 42, in which recesses balls 43 are arranged. These balls are urged in one direction byv means of spring 44, the recesses being so shaped that when the element `40 is moved in one direction with respect to the roller 35 (counter-clockwise in Fig. 4), a binding action will occur between the roller 35 and the element 40, to move the roller 35 in one direction. When, however, the element 40 is moved in the opposite direction, the element 40 will be released so as to move independently with respect to the roller 35. A spring 45, preferably a coil spring, encompasses the end of the roller 35, and acts upon the element 4G, tending normally to move the latter in a direction to release or render the clutch inactive. To accomplish this action, one end of the spring 45 is anchored to a fixed pin on a side of the device, and th-e opposite end 46 engages and acts upon an arm 41, connected to the element 40. The end 48 of the arm is engaged, and actuated against the stress of the spring 45, by another arm 49, that is secured to the shaft 23.

As the crosshead I is reciprocated through the movements of the eccentric strap l2 and the member H, the shaft 23 will be rocked through the medium of the links 22, and as the arm 49 is alsorocked through the medium of the shaft 23, the arm 41 will impart an oscillatory movement to the clutch member 4U, and thereby impart an intermittent step of advancing move ment to the endless conveyor elements 34.

A back stop clutch mechanism is provided for the conveyor, and is preferably located at the other end of the roller 35. This back stop clutch is of a construction similar to the clutch mechanism for advancing the conveyor, but is designed to operate in the opposite direction from the direction of operation of the clutch advancing mechanism. This back stop clutch preferably embodies a member G, which is maintained stationary, and has a portion telescoping into the end of the roller. This telescoping portion is provided with peripheral recesses 5l, in which spring-controlled balls 52 are mounted. The recesses are so constructed that when the roller 35 is relatively moved in one direction with respect to the member 50, there will be a binding action therebetween, and the roller 35 will be maintained against retrograde movement, but when the roller is moved in the opposite or advancing direction by the portion 4| of the clutch member 40, the feeding roller 35 will be free to advance the conveyor elements 34.

It will therefore be seen that the back stop mechanism Will permit the conveyor elements to be advanced upon each operation of the arm 46.

A delivery chute or slide 53 may be provided to receive the material from the support 27, for directing it out of the machine, and may be supported by a bracket or member 54. If desired,

4 walls 55 may be arranged at the sides of the conveyor, to form a trough or chute in which the material advances. By the use of coiled resilient elements 34 for the conveyor members, the tension of such elements will maintain them taut.

While the preferred form of the invention has been herein shown and described, it is to be understood that various changes may be made in the details of construction and in the combination and arrangement of the various parts, within the scope of the claims, Without departing from the spirit of this invention.

What is claimed as new is:

l. A machine of the character described, for tendering substance such as meat, embodying a reciprocating member, substance piercing means carried by said member, means to operate said member to move said piercing means through a predetermined orbital path to pierce and move the substance through the machine, means to advance the substance to said piercing means, means to operate the said advancing means and embodying a clutch device, and means connected with said reciprocating member and co-operating with said clutch device for controlling the operation thereof.

2. A machine of the character described, for tendering substance such as meat, embodying a reciprocating member, substance piercing means carried by said member, means to operate said member to move said piercing means through a predetermined orbital path to pierce and move the substance through the machine, means to advance the substance to said piercing means, means to operate the said advancing means and embodying a clutch device, said clutch device embodying an arm forming a part thereof, a rock shaft, means operatively connecting said rock shaft with said reciprocating member to be operated by the latter, and means connected with said rock shaft for engagement with said arm to actuate the latter.

3. A machine of the character described, for tendering substance such as meat, embodying a reciprocating member, substance piercing means carried by said member, means to operate said member to move said piercing means through a predetermined orbital path to pierce and move the substance through the machine, means to advance the substance to said piercing means,

means to operate the said advancing means and embodying a clutch device, said clutch device embodying an arm forming a part thereof, a rock shaft, means operatively connecting said .2- rock shaft with said reciprocating member to be operated by the latter, means connected with said rock shaft for engagement with said arm to actuate the latter, and back stop mechanism for the said advancing means.

HENDRIK STUKART.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

